Grain-car door.



N0. ?92',s29. PATENTED JUNE 20, 1905.

M. M. JOHN.

GRAIN GAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. '1. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Z.- J80 /-20 "Egg: 2 q 22 51: 24/ @6 J Smuentoz I (Z6 i A 6/ flsY/Uoh )Xhhwoou W 6 MM kw PATENTED JUNE 20, 1905.

M. M. JOHN.

GRAIN OAR DOOR.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 7, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wihw can Iatented June 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

MILES M. JOHN, OF PEKIN, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,829, dated June 20, 1905,

Application filed November 7, 1904:. Serial No. 231,762,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MILEs M. JOHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pekin, in the county of Tazewell and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Oar Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car-doors of the type particularly designed for use as the inside door of a grain-car in which grain is shipped in bulk or in loose form.

To this end the invention contemplates a simple and practical construction of door for grain-cars, which may be easily raised and lowered, so as to allow the grain to be removedfrom the car or to be placed therein in the most convenient manner without the usual difliculty attendant upon opening or raising the ordinary types of grain-car doors in common use. In this connection the invention has in view a novel mounting of the door which admits of the same being swung up to an out-of-the-way position beneath the roof of the car when it is desired to entirely uncover the door-opening through the side of the car either during the loading or unloading of the latter. Also the invention provides, in connection with the means for permitting the door to be swung to asubstantially horizontal position beneath the roof of the car and sustained in that position, a novel and practical means for guiding the door into its closed position over the door-opening and for securely retaining it in such position against displacement in any direction either laterally or vertically.

With these and other objects in view, which will more readily appear as the'nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

The essential features of the invention involved in carrying out the objects above indicated are necessarily susceptible to some structural change without departing from the spirit or scope thereof; but a preferred embodiment of the improvements is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an inner side elevation of one side of a grain-car, showing the same equipped with a door and door-mountings constructed in accordance with the presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View of the grain-car, showing the opposite doorways equipped with the improved door and door-mountings, the view illustrating one door with its extension raised and fastened and the other door with its extension lowered to partly uncover the door-opening above the main door. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view at one side of the doorway, showing the door suspended in an inoperative position at the top of the car heneath the roof thereof. Fig. 4c is a front elevation of a grain-car door em bodyingthepresent improvements and showing the outside of the doorway portion of a grain-car to which it is fitted. Fig. 5 is a detail elevation showing the inner side portion of one of the doorposts to illustrate the mounting of the fastening guides and guards for the door and the hinged extension thereof. Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1, showing more plainly the fastening and guiding means for the door.

Like reference-numerals designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In carrying out the present invention the improvements are associated with the usual doorway 1 of an ordinary type of grain or freight car 2 of the kind commonly employed for carrying grain in bulk or loose form. The doorways are usually provided in the sides of the cars at opposite points, and each doorway is provided with the same equipment; but as the door equipment for both doorways is the same a description of one will suflice for the other.

The doorway 1 in the side of the car is of the usual dimensions and extends substan tially the full height of the car-body. It is bounded at the opposite vertical sides thereof by the vertical side posts 3, and it is upon the inner sides of these side door-posts that the improved grain-door is designed to be arranged and manipulated.

The grain-door proper is designated by the numeral 4 and is made of sheet metal, pref erably galvanized iron, being reinforced by a framework of iron strips or bars in the manner presently explained. This main door 4 is of the Vertically sliding and swinging type, inasmuch as .it is designed to have a vertical sliding movement at the inner side of the doorway to provide the inside door for the latter and in addition to the vertical sliding movement is adapted to be swung up to a horizontal position beneath the roof of the car, as will. hereinafter more fully appear. The metal sheet constituting the body of the main sliding door has riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the inner side thereof the upper and lower supporting-bars 5 and 6, respectively, which extend across the full width of the door-plate and constitute a strong rein forcement for the top and bottom edges of the same. When the door is in its lowered position, the lower bar 6 constitutes a bottom rest-sill which rests upon the floor of the carbody and resists outward strain imposed upon the bottom edge of the door by the weight of the material within the same.

Both the upper and lower supporting-bars 5 and 6 at the top and bottom edges of the door or door-plate 4 are provided with end hanger extensions 7 and 8, respectively. The end hanger extensions 7 from the supporting-bar 5 at the top edge of the door have looselyarranged thereover carrying-links 9, which are loosely interlooped with sliding runnerrings 10, having a loose sliding engagement over the stationary guiding-rods 11, arranged at opposite sides of the doorway 1 upon the inside of the car-body. The opposite guiding-rods 11 have vertical portions 12 extending parallel with the side of the car-body from a point at or about the plane of the top edge of the main door 4 when the latter is lowered to a point at or about the plane of the top of the doorway 1, and from such point the guiding-rods 11 are formed with inwardlycurved roof-sections 13, extending beneath the roof of the car-body to a point at or about the longitudinal center of the latter. This position of the guiding-rods 11 at opposite sides of the doorway 1 permits the top edge of the door 4 to be raised to the top of the car upon the vertical portions 12 of the rods and then moved inward upon the roof-sections 13, whereby the door is brought to an approximately horizontal position and the end hanger extensions 8 of the lower supporting-bar 6 thereof are permitted to be lifted into the stationary supporting-hangers 14, projected inwardly from the side of the carbody in a plane above the top of the doorway 1, as may be plainly seen from Fig. 3 of the drawings. These stationary supportinghangers 14 are preferably in the form of open hooks with upturned terminals.

The main sliding door 4has riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the outer side thereof along its vertical edges the opposite parallel slide-strips 16, provided with undercut or beveled portions 17,'slidably interlocked with correspondingly beveled or undercut holding edges 18 of the stationary fastening-guides 19, secured to the inner sides of the opposite doorposts 3 contiguous to the longitudinal edges of such posts. The opposite slide-strips 16, carried by the main door 4, are spaced a greater distance apart than the stationary fastening-guides 19, so as to provide what may be properly termed a slidable dovetailed engagement with said guides, as may be plainly seen from cross-sectional view, Fig. 6, of the drawings. This slidable dovetailed engagement of the slide-strips with the fasteningguides not only provides for definitely guiding the main door into a closed position over the lower portion of the doorway, but also constitutes a rigid fastening means for securely holding the door to the doorposts against lateral or edgewise displacement.

To assist in the vertical guiding of the door, there are associated with the oppositely-arranged fastening-guides 19 the guard-strips 20, also secured to the inner sides of the doorposts 3 and arranged in longitudinal aline-r ment with the guides 19. The guard-strips 20 terminate short of the top of the doorway and are of slightly less width than the guides 19, so that their outer edges will lie inside of the plane of the undercut edges 17 of the guides, so as to permit the door 4 to become perfectly free from the said guides when lifted above the lower half of the doorway, while at the same time guided by the said strips 20 in the continued upward movement for carrying the door into its elevated position upon the roof-sections 13 of the guidingrods and the supporting-hangers 14. While subserving these functions, the guard-strips 20 are specially designed to act as guards for the upper supplemental door extension 21, consisting of a metal sheet or plate hinged at one edge, as at 22, to the top edge of the main door 4, said hinges being so arranged as to provide for the inward folding of the extension .21 back upon the inner side of the main door, as plainly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The said upper supplemental door extension 21 has riveted or otherwise rigidly fastened to the outer side thereof along its opposite vertical edges the short frame-strips 23, which engage along the outer edges of the guard-strips 20 to brace the extension against Y edgewise strain when in its extended position within the vertical plane of the main door 4.

The upper supplemental door extension 21 is provided along the upper and lower edges thereof with the upper and lower frame-bars 24 and 25, the upper bar 24 being preferably provided with the end extensions 26, adapted to be engaged by the fastening-latches 27 pivoted to the door-posts 3, as at 28. When engaged with the said upper framebar of the door extension, the latches not only serve to hold such extension in alinement with the main door, but also act as fastening means for holding down the entire door to secure the same against being jarred open. When it is desired to uncover the upper part of the door for any purpose, the latches 27 are released and the door extension 21 folded down upon the inner side of the main door. In this folded position the swinging edge of the door extension is engaged by the turn-button 29, carried by the main door. Also the folding extension is fastened in this manner when it is desired to lift the entire door and suspend it beneath the roof of the car in the manner already explained.

The main door or door plate 4 is provided therein near its bottom edge with an outletport 30, adapted to be covered and uncovered by an outwardly-opening relief-gate 31,hinged at its upper edge, as at 32, to the upper edge of the said port or opening 30. In its closed position the gate 31 covers or fills the port 30 and is held locked in such position by a locking-bar 33, pivoted intermediate its ends, as at 34, to the gate and having its opposite end portions engaging in the opposite reversely-disposed keepers 35, preferably arranged on or in the side posts or jambs of the doorway, as plainly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. A pivotal securing-button 36 is mounted upon the gate 31 and is designed to be turned against the bar 33 for holding the same in its keepers. By turning the button 36 away from the bar 33 and swinging the latter out of its keepers the gate 31 may be swung open to provide an outlet for the grain should it be desired to tap the same through said. outlet, particularly for the purpose of relieving the outward pressure somewhat from the door before raising the same.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, and many advantages of the herein-described grain-car door will be readily apparent without further description, and it will be understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a grain-cardoor, the combination with the car and its doorway, of stationary fastening-guides secured to the door-posts, guardstrips extended above the fastening-guides in alinement therewith but having their outer edges lying inside the plane of the corresponding edges of said guides, a vertically-sliding main door carrying, at its vertical edges, strips which slidably interlock with the fastening-guides, a hinged door extension carried by the main door and provided with end frame-strips engaging the guard-strips, and means for guiding the door and its extension to an elevated position beneath the car-roof.

2. In a grain-car door, the combination with the car and its doorway, of a vertically-sliding main door having supportingbars respectively at the top and bottom edges thereof, fastening-guides for said main door a supplemental door extension hinged to the top edge of the door and having at its upper edge a frame bar provided with end extensions, guardstrips cooperating with said hinged door extension fastening-latches mounted on.

the car-body and engaging the end extensions of said frame-bar of the door extension when the latter is in its closed position, stationary guiding-rods arranged at opposite sides of the doorway and having inwardly-extending sections located beneath the car-roof. a slide connection between said guiding-rods and the upper supporting-bar of the main door, and stationary hangers carried by the car-body above the doorway and adapted to receive the ends of the lower supporting-bar of the main door when guided to an approximately horizontal position beneath the roof.

3. In a grain-car door, the combination with the car and its doorway, of stationary fastening-guides secured to the door-posts and provided with undercut outer holding edges, guard-strips extended above the fasteningguides in alinement therewith, a verticallysliding main door carrying, at its vertical edges, sliding strips provided with undercut edges slidably interlocking with the corresponding edges of said fastening-guides, a hinged door extension carried by the main door and provided with end frame-strips engaging at the sides of the guard-strips, and means for guiding the door and its extension to an elevated position beneath the car-roof and for suspending it in such position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MILES M. JOHN.

Witnesses:

J. M. RAHN, W. W. JoHNs. 

